Accelerator device for automobiles.



'M'IS. BALDWIN. ACCELERATOR-DEUCE FOR AUTOM -JBILES.

* APPLICATION FILED DEC.I3.19 5| I provid c UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MORTON S. BALDWIN, OF ADRIAN, MICHIGAN.

ACCELERATOR DEVICE FOR AUTUMOB [LES Specification of LettcrsPatcnt.

.1 atented Apr. 1'7, 1917.

Application filed December 13, 1916. Serial No. 136,685.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Mon'roN S. BALDWIN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Adrian, in the county of Lenawee and State of Michigan, haveinventedv certain new and useful Inn'n'ovements in Accelerator Devicesfor Automobiles, of which the following'is a specification.

This invention relates to the general subject of automobiles, and hasparticular reference to a. novel im 'n'ovement in foot actuatedaccelerator devices for controlling the throttle valve of the caburetcr.

To this end the invention contemplates a. device of the character theactuation of the throttle valve by the foot is entirely independent ofthe operation thereof by the hand throttle lever on the steering post,thereby giving the driver a selection of means for the control of themachine and also greater freedom of operation.

A further object of the'invention is to provide a simple and practicaldevice which is reliable and positive in its action and which isinexpensive to make, install and repair. In this connection it isproposed to a novel and reliable connection between the foot actuatedelement and the connection for the hand-throttle-operating means.

With the above and other objects in view which will more readily appearas the nature of the invention is better in'ulerstood, the same consistsin the novel construction, combination and arrangement of partshereinafter more fully described, illustrated, and claimed.

A preferred. and practical embodiment of the invention is shown in theaccompanying drawings, in whlch Figure 1 is a plan view of an automobileshowing the application of my invention.

Fig. 2 is a detail plan view more clearly illustrat ng my invention andshowing the normal position of the foot actuated element in fnlllinesand the relation of the same to the hand throttle coupling rod whenmoved by the foot in dotted lines.

Fig. 3 is a detail sectional view of the novel one-way slip connectionbetween the foot actuated accelerator element and the hand throttlecoupling rod.

Similar references designate correspond ing" parts throughout theseveral figures of the drawings.

set forth, whereby- In' carrying who present invention into effect it isnot tl e purpose of the invention to alter or recoistruct the presentdevices provided for optrating the throttle valve of the carburetor byhand, but to provide additional means whereby the throttle valve ma y beactuated ly the foot of the driver of the machine cnz rely independentof the usual control by be hand device. 13y reference to Fig, 1 of: thedrawings; which shows in a more or les. diagran'nnatic fashion the frontportion of an automobile. it will be observed that tln carburetor (I islocated at one side of the n otor M. while the steering collnnn is locaed at the opposite side of the router from the carlnn'etcr and projectsup through the iloor 1* m the machine, .as shown. As usual, the steeringcolumn S has associated therewith the hand throttle stem A, which isconnected to the throttle lever L of the car )nreter by means of acoupling rod It. This coupling rod is pivotally connected to ihc handthrottle stem, and as will hcreinaftc more fully appear i not connectedat itsopoositu end in the conventional manner with the throttle lever L,but has a special love] slip joint connection which forms an il'iportantpart of the present invention and pcrn'lits the movement of the throttlelever l nder the action of the foot accelerator device. without movingthe hand throttle stem.

Referring now more particularly to the novel features of the acceleratordevice, it will he observed ihat the same essentially comprises anactiator platel. which as shown. is prefera ly of trlai'lgular shape,

and rigidly attacl ed as at 2 to the-end of the short adjnstn'cnt armof' the angular throttle valve lcve L. \ccordingly. it Will be apparentthat t'n said actuator plate 1 is rigidly fitted at one corner to aportion of the throttle opcratlng member other corner then-ml is securedto the end of the long arm 3 d said member by means oi the novelslip-joint unit Th. whereby any movmncnt ol' the ar tuaior plate willshift the said throttle contrrl member to rcbv govern the opening andclosing of the butterfly valve of the ca rbnr rter.

As will be obsclvcd l'rom l ig. 3 of the drawings, this HOW-l slip jointunit I preferably consists of a bolt 4 having thereon the nut 5, whichclamps the end of the throttle arm 3 between itself and the underside ofthe plate, while the head of the bolt pivl) while an ,with this type ofconnection between the rod R and the plate a wide range of adjustmentmay be accurately accomplished, and

. as well known the feature of adjustment is that the movem extremelyvaluable in obtaining the proper mixtures of air and gas in carbureters.

With the pin 10 located at one side of the walls of the bracket it willbe apparent that any movement of the. coupling rod R in the direction ofthe arrpw, Fig. 3, will cause the movement of the throttle controlelement I2 and-actuator plate 1. However, when the actuatorplai'e 1 ismoved in the same direction by the operators foot, the movement thereofwill not affect the coupling rod R, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2,because of the location of the pins with relation to the bracket andthe, operative directional movement of the rod R. Thus, it will be cleart of the actuator plate 1 under foot press re in the direction of thearrow shown in Fig. 2 and also Fig. 3, will not cause any movement ofthe coupling rod, while on the other hand the movement of the couplingrod in the direction of the arrow will cause the combined movement ofthe actua r plate and throttle lever.

With f rther reference to the actuator plate 1, it will be observed thatthe same is connected as at 11 with the foot actuatedpush rod 12, whichextends through a guide so that the member L will cause ,the throttlevalve to be closed'or substantially so, there is provided aspring 15,one end of which is connected as at 16 to the hooked end of the push rodwhich engages with the opening; 11 of the actuator late, while the otherend 17 thereof is attac ed to a suitable part of the machine, as clearlyshown in Flg. 1 of the draw From the I oregoing, it is believed to beapparent that upon imparting movement'to the push rod 12, the actuatorplate 1' will move against the tension of the spring 15 to thus move thethrottle lever, and because of the novel adjustable swivel slip joint'the movement of the usual hand throttle- ,and it will, of course, beunderstood, that various changes in the form, proportion and minordetails of construction may be resorted to without departing from thespiritof the invention or scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A foot actuated accelerator device. for automobiles including incombination with a carbureter having a throttle lever and alhand-controlled throttle stem, an actuator platecarried by saidthrottle lever, a foot actuated push rod'connec'ted with said plate, aspring for holding said plate in a normal 10 position, a swivel bracketelement carried by said plate, and acoup'ling rod pivotally connected atone end to saidv hand-controlled stem and having its free end engagingsaid swivelbracket element on the actuatorpla-te. 1o 2. A foot actuatedaccelerator device for automobiles including in combination with acarburetor having a throttle lever and a hand-controlled throttle stem,an actuator plate, carried. by said throttle lever, a, foot 11 actuatedpush rod connected with said plate, a spring .for holding said plateina. normal position, "a swivel bracket element carried by said plate atitspoint of connection with the long arm of the throttle lever, and acou- 11 pling rod pivotall connected at one end to said hand-control edstem and having its free end engaging said swivel bracket ele ment onthe actuator plate;

3. A foot accelerator device for automo- 12 'biles including incombination with .acarbureter having a throttle lever and ahandcontrolled throttle stem, at substantially triangular actuator platecarried ,by the throttle lever, a foot'actuated push rod connected 12with said plate, a spring for holding said plate in normal position, aswivel bracket element carried by said plate and connectin I the samewith the throttle lever, said swive bracket including a' bolt forpivotally clamp- 1-8 ing the long arm of the tnrottle lever to the guideopenings of'the swivel bracket, and a in carried by said coupling rodfor engagmg the bracket when moving in one direcition.

4. A foot accelerator device for automobiles incliujling in combinationwith a carbureter having a throttle lever and a handcontrolled throttlestem therefor, a, springcontrolled actuator plate carried by saidthrottle lever, a foot actuated push rod connected With said actuatorplate, a swivel. bracket element carried, by said plate and includin r abolt for loosely clamping the lonq arm 0 the throttle lever to the umlcrside 0? said plate and also loosely clam iing the substantiallyU-shaped bracket portion to the upper side of said plate, said bracketpirtion having openings the .in; a coupling rod connected with saidhand-controlled stem at one end and having its opposite end workil'ig inthe guide openings of said bracket, said rod having a portion thereofprojecting beyond the bracket in its normal condition and provided witha 1' lurality of adjustment openings, and a pin for enterin in one ofsaid adjustment op :nings, w lereby the movement of the rod moves theactuator plate, but the ITIOVGITH nt of the the bracket to slide on therod.

plate causes 5. A foot actuated accelerator device for i automobilesincluding in combination with a carbureter having a throttle lever and ahand-controlled stern therefor, an actuator plate carried by saidthrottle lever, a foot actuated connection f( r said plate, a spring forholding said plate in clamped'posltion, a swivel bracket element carriedby said plate, a coupling rod pivotally connected at one end to saidhand controlled stem, and having its free end engaging said swivelln'ackct elen'ient, and means for providing for relative adjustmenibetween the free end of the coupling rod 21H] the swivel bracketelement.

In testin'iony whereof I hereunto allix my sigmiture in the presen :e oftwo witnesses.

MORTON S. BALDWIN. \Vitnesses A. L. VAN AUK aN, I'IENRY Hownnn

